We had a home inspector with the first house we wanted to buy. Boy, what a waste of money that was. This time we went without one.

I guess being in the construction industry helps a bit. :-)
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My friend told me the same thing. In fact, I called a guy i know who owns about 100 rental properties and he told me that all the home inspector usually does is point you in the direction of specialists who can inspect things further... and charge you more... He then told me that he would inspect the house himself free of charge and insisted that he would do a much better job. I was blwon away. Good thing he is a cigar smoker, I can get him back!!
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Good to hear you have a buddy to help with the inspection.

Here's the catch on home inspectors: when the housing market was booming, a lot of places offered classes for people to become home inspectors. So guess where a bunch of unemployed folks went? Don't get me wrong here, there are good home inspectors worth the cost. But if you're relatively good with repairing houses or in the construction trades then I understand not hiring an inspector.
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I have looked at 15 houses. looking at 5 more today. I have scoured the MLS. I believe we will find our home today! Figners crossed
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Here's some more advice ... wait and buy what you like, don't buy just to get that rebate.

By all means you might find 'the one' today but don't short yourself.


On another note, my brother found a place and had his offer accepted. He put a home inspection clause in the offer and now must get a certified home inspector to do the work. Fortunate for him he has a friend who has a friend who is an inspector. I still left the offer for me to go over the place but it wouldn't matter unless the inspector agreed with my findings.
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As a first time home buyer, I highly suggest a reputable inspector. Your real estate agent should be able to point you in the right direction and get you in contact with a solid inspector with a good track record. Sure it's not something you want to pay up front, but if you forgo an inspection and something goes wrong after the closing, your SOL. Our inspector found various issues, all of which we put into the contract that they fix or we wouldn't purchase the house. These things ended up costing the seller, not us, almost $2000. Well worth the price of the inspector. Also, given how tight most lenders still are, and if your going with an FHA, your lender may not even give you a loan without an inspection. I know if I was a lender and a first time buyer came to me to buy a house without an inspection, I'd send them packing....
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Except if you go with a bank-owned property there won't be a "fix it or we walk" option available. You might get the bank to budge on the price a bit but unlikely. At the point you might have "accept or walk" options. Although I've been hearing of banks being more flexible.
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We looked at a short sale that we are in love with.

I will have it inspected without a doubt. I dont know the technical terms but my realtor said that we are going to write the offer with an inspection period and then a "heres what you need to fix for our offer to still stand" period as well.
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That's how it usually work. You come to terms on a price that both sides accept. Then the buyer has X amount of days to get an inspection, once the inspection is done, you go back with any additions to the contract and at that point, negotiations usually begin again, lol. It's definitely a process.
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Concessions. Ask for every last one of them. You may not get any because it is a short sale, but you still have to ask. :-)
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Usually in a short sale the bank reviews the buyer's offer if it's other than the asking price of the home. Not exactly a bad thing, but at the same time it's not always a quick process.
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North of five months for us and we walked after still being strung along. This is after spending money on the house to get it up to FHA standards. In this market banks will not do anything to the house, it's all going to be on the buyer.

Bank of America can go blow a rotten dead goat. Can you guess which bank owned the house?
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Yeah, I was really lucky on my short sale, bank came back with an acceptance within a month. I think that's because they lost two previous buyers by waiting too long. One thing to make sure of is that the house doesn't have a second mortgage, or if it does that it is cleared. The bank holding the second came back the day before closing demanding an extra couple grand when I thought everything was kosher. It was split between me and the buyer, with my agent paying some of mine, and it was such a good deal it wasn't worth stopping because of it, but make sure for you that your realestate agent has all the bases covered.
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